Are you going to be off-roading in them, or doing long trails? In that case there might be a few members who regularly tour their Gs that can help more, as I use mine almost exclusively on-road.

The main choice is between OEM (oil-filled, normally Sachs) shocks and aftermarket (typically gas-charged, Bilstein, KONI, etc, choice opens up even more if you use a converter - eye to pin or vice-versa). For off-roading, gas-charged shocks are probably more responsive than oil-filled ones, and more resistant to fatigue. If you are concerned about hardness/softness of ride, best get an adjustable set, then you can play around with settings.
The ones I got pictured (KONI) I'm happy with up front, I was going for Bilsteins until I saw their ridiculous prices of late.

Nothing is ever simple I guess ...
The 330GD has just been acquired and will indeed go off road (my son wants to drive her to Cape Town, but I think she is too good for that), but only across fields and through woods - normal shooting stuff.
This time last year (and only 400 miles ago) the rear coils springs were replaced (at £141.00 a pop!) and the shocks at £40 each. Yet she wallows like an early Range Rover and feels very different to my 460 GEL and 463GEL (petrol with LPG tanks in the back). Seems strange that such new attention to the rear has produced a jelly! But then again it was done be a LandRover specialist who hates G's!

Shocks at £40 each?? That sounds a bit too cheap to be true... I wanted to replace the rear shocks on my old 300GE and the shocks from MB would have costed €127 each or Koni at about €140 each :S Didn't do it at the end because I crashed it...

I'm with lphong on this one, 40 each sounds like a cheap shock. Also are you sure it is not the fronts contributing to the wallowy ride?

It seems that Gs take unkindly to sitting for extended periods, if you won't use it for a while why not lift it up by the chassis to remove the stress from the springs (and tyres). If you need help with part numbers and what not..let us know.

300GD - not a typo 330 sorry. £40 shocks yes indeed cheap and nasty, even the LR man admitted that. As for mileage the previous owner only latterly used it on shoot days. "serviced" 5/12/08 at 110973, then 16/10/09 at 111160 and MOT'd (quite painfully - track rod ends and drag link end ball joints) the other day at 111454 - standing she has been indeed! I am in the process of doing a deep clean - all the seats out etc (interesting rust points under the rear load area carpet which I will need to get some thoughts on - I will take a photo). but back to shocks; seems like new decent ones all round - suitable for UK shoot days. if she does a trans Africa trip next year then possibly up rate them again - expense! but she needs to be road friendly here first. thanks guys.

Do you know what springs were fitted? Genuine MB ones? If so there are different grades I.E. softish though to heavy duty (hard).

Your wallowing description doesn’t sound right at all for a G and even cheap and nasty shocks (assuming they were actually the correct fitment for a G) when new shouldn’t allow wallow. Sound more like springs to me. Just my thoughts.

"The less than interested LR man" - can't be bothered to answer my emails. If I was a rich man I guess the answer would be to start again from scratch. From the comments on this site it would seem that it matters not whether they are Koni/Bilstein or even ORC and that the springs for a LWB G should simply be "heavy duty" purchased from the right place namely ORC or MB (?). Years ago I bought some rears from a GWOA recommended fella and she sat a good two inches lower and they had to be replaced within weeks - "chinese" springs make me nervous!

There used to be a good link for names of suppliers in a dedicated section of the forum..will try to find it..
-edit- couldn't find it but seems someone else at least has had a good experience with them:http://gwoa.co.uk/node/5826

JOIN THE GWOA

This website and forum are provided for the benefit of enthusiasts and owners of all Mercedes Benz off road vehicles, in particular the G Wagen. The costs of development, upkeep and provision of the site are met entirely by the annual subscriptions of club members. If you are using the site and are not a member of the G Wagen Owners Association please consider joining. You will have access to areas on the site that are not open to non members, to club trips and meetings and to technical assistance. In addition your contribution (only £25 annually) will help us maintain and develop our website for future users.